Can I change my username on MeFi?

January 26, 2006 5:04 PM

Chameleon-Pony Request: Can I change my username on MeFi, or would it forever ruin the MeFi/google/other balance and you'd prefer I don't?

I really don't use this username like... anywhere anymore... I've been around MeFi for a few years now I think, and even back when I registered I was considering ditching this dumb nickname.

Aside from recent weeks where I've been AskMeFi crazy, I've been lurk-ish enough that I highly doubt anyone has any real association with my name (I'm not like ParisParamus, for example) so I don't think it would throw anyone off, really.
posted by twiggy to feature requests at 5:04 PM (8 comments total)

Sure. That'll be $5, please.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 5:05 PM on January 26, 2006

This will not happen.
posted by interrobang at 5:06 PM on January 26, 2006

I've been around MeFi for a few years now I think

Then you haven't been paying attention, because this comes up regular as clockwork, and the answer is always no. Now go pay your $5 and (if you know what's good for you) stay out of this thread, because it's not going anywhere you want to follow.
posted by languagehat at 5:17 PM on January 26, 2006

If you do start using a new name, it would be nice if you put a reference to this old one in the new profile.
posted by odinsdream at 5:19 PM on January 26, 2006

If you do start using a new name, please do not refer to the old name just because someone tells you to.
posted by Rothko at 5:21 PM on January 26, 2006

What Alex Reynolds said.
posted by interrobang at 5:23 PM on January 26, 2006

You know what's beginning to piss me off?

*crowd goes silent in rapt anticipation*

Metatalk threads where the first few comments are "Oooh, you gonna get wordraped! Run away, 'cause the mean people are gonna make soooo much fun of you!"

Because that's self-fulfilling prophecy, and it's destructive. It increases the chance that precisely that will happen. I'm not against poking-with-sticks and pelting-with-offal, of course, where appropriate, but that kinda thing just reinforces the (incorrect, I hope, still) idea that we're collectively nasty, vindictive and vicious.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:27 PM on January 26, 2006 [1 favorite]

You can't change your username because it has a lot of downsides. It's a pain to do it, it does affect google/etc, and tends to be a bad thing for a community if you can simply change your representation and history. If you really want a new one, feel free to set up a new user and discontinue using the old one.
posted by mathowie at 5:38 PM on January 26, 2006